Boulder County Transferable Development Credits (TDC) Clearinghouse

TDC Assessment Frequently Asked Questions

	If I sell all the TDCs for my vacant land, how will that affect my value?
	If I sell the TDCs that have been determined for my improved property, which will limit the size of my current home to less than 2,000 square feet - how will that affect my value?
	Since the number of TDCs that I have to sell or will need to buy are based on the size of the residential improvements on my property, how are those sizes calculated?
	If I believe that the square footage listed for my improvement is in error, what should I do?

For more information
on the TDC Clearinghouse
please contact:

Ruth Cornfeld Becker, LLC
1942 Broadway • Suite 314
Boulder, CO 80302
Phone: 303-554-6150
Fax: 720-304-0020

If I sell all the TDCs for my vacant land, how will that affect my value?

After selling the development credits attributed to your vacant parcel the land will be reassessed for the next appraisal year as a non-buildable site reflecting the value of what other non-buildable sites have sold for. This is not a $0 amount, for the property still has value as a recreational site, additional privacy for an adjoining property, and so forth.

If all the development credits to a parcel have been sold, and you own the adjacent parcel, the Assessor's Office will assume that the two parcels will be sold together, and will appraise the stripped parcel for its value contribution to the whole.

Keep in mind that properties are assessed based on their use and value as of January 1st of each year. Also, in Colorado, taxes are paid in arrears – in other words, the taxes that become due in January of each year are based on the previous year’s assessed value for that property. If you sell your TDCs any time after the first of the year, the property will still be assessed as a buildable site for that tax year, with the taxes based on that assessment due and payable the following year. So any selling of development credits from January 2nd to December 31st will not affect the assessed value of the property until the next year, and the taxes due and payable for that property until the year after that.

If I sell the TDCs that have been determined for my improved property, which will limit the size of my current home to less than 2,000 square feet - how will that affect my value?

That will be determined by the market. If analysis shows that properties under similar circumstances (sold TDCs, can not expand their improvement’s size) are selling for less than other similar properties that still have the right to expand their homes, then properties that are size restricted will have their values adjusted accordingly. However, if analysis shows that there is no apparent loss in value for selling off the TDCs and having size limitations on your property, then there will be no adjustment. Until it is evident from the market place that adjustments are warranted, no adjustments will be made.

Since the number of TDCs that I have to sell or will need to buy are based on the size of the residential improvements on my property, how are those sizes calculated?

The Assessor's Office uses the exterior measurements of homes and buildings. This includes the outside dimensions of all basement areas, as well. For finished areas that have sloping roofs (such as A-frames, 1 ½ stories, etc.), there must be a minimum of five feet of clearance between the surface of the floor and the surface of the ceiling for that portion of the structure to count as living area. We round our measurements to the nearest half-foot when doing the area calculations. This may cause the Assessor's estimate of square footage to differ from that estimated by an architect, builder, or Realtor, since they frequently use interior measurements.

If I believe that the square footage listed for my improvement is in error, what should I do?

Please contact the Assessor’s Office. We will review what we have listed for your property, and if necessary, come out to your property and re-measure, verify, and/or correct the calculations we have listed for your account.